“I certainly did not tell him to release those filthy pigeons in your attic, if that is what you are suggesting.” The apples of her pretty cheeks had reddened, and she still couldn’t meet his eye. “Nor would I ever condone breaking and entering, no matter what the provocation.”
“But you might have mentioned, in passing, that what I was opening next door to them wasSodom and Gomorrah?”
Her blush deepened, confirming it. “Tommy asked precisely what your line of business was, and that seemed the easiest way to describe it to a child.”
“Interesting.” He sipped his soup and shook his head. “You decided that I might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, despite knowing The Mermaid is nothing like that and despite never having set a foot in my place in the docks.”
“Ah yes—The Basket of Kittens.” Two blue eyes locked with his. “I suppose I should also apologize for my incorrect assumptions regarding that. Because obviously there are no card or dice tables in that establishment. No drunken sailors and absolutely no reckless gambling is tolerated there.”
“There’s a card table here, Venus, and Dalton’s a sailor. Or at least he was once upon a time before Napoleon blew his leg off. The presence of both things hardly makes this house a den of iniquity.”
“We are supposed to be polite to each other here, Galahad—not pedantic.” She smiled as she spoke, giving him hope that she had indeed passed the peak of her outrage and that they could finally move forward politely.
“I’m just stating facts, Venus.”
“By comparing your bawdy tavern to my brother-in-law’s town house. I am not certain that is a fair comparison. Or a particularly scientific one.”
“Maybe I should give you a private tour of The Basket of Kittens so that you can see for yourself what goes on there before you leave? My cook does a mean roast on a Friday if you’re free tomorrow evening?” That invitation to dinner slipped out before he thought better of it and, it was fair to say, stunned them both.
“Well… I… um…”
“What would it take to convince you to come with us all to Shropshire for the yuletide, cousin?” Giles’s interruption saved her from declining and a panicked Gal from backtracking. “I hate to think of you all alone on Christmas Day. Again.”
Truth be told, Gal wasn’t particularly looking forward to it himself this year, any more than he had relished it the year before. Not even work did much to relieve the inevitable melancholy lately. “Sadly, Christmas is one of my busiest times. I suppose everyone on their own or far from home flocks to places like mine to avoid being alone over the festive season.” Much like him. He had voluntarily worked every Christmas Day since his ma had passed simply to take his mind off the fact that she had. “It can be a miserable time if you have no one.” Which he supposed was the crux of the reason he avoided these good people diligently year after year. Watching Giles with Diana, Hugh with Minerva, and Jeremiah with Olivia reminded him that he had no one of his own.
Of their own accord, his eyes drifted to Venus again, and he instantly mourned her loss even though she was less than three feet away and he was better off without her.
“Straight after, there are the renovations to oversee.” He tore his errant gaze from her before it gave him away. “Work on that only stops for Christmas and Boxing Day.” Not that he fully understood the concept of Boxing Day, even after years on this side of the Atlantic. “Then it’ll be all hands to the mast till spring. I want to have staff employed and the place ready to open in time for the season to start.” Before all his money ran out and bankruptcy loomed. Which, thanks to all the extra expenditure on the orphanage roof, would likely be sooner rather than later.
“You work too hard.” This came from Minerva.
“What else do I have to do?” Gal hadn’t meant to say that aloud, either, but the truth escaped before he could stop it. Now it was out there, he had no choice but to clarify. “I mean, it’s not as if I have a nagging wife Ihaveto go home to.” Which sounded even sadder than having to work.
“Yet.” Olivia wiggled her eyebrows. “But I am convinced you will be snapped up soon, Galahad. A young, resourceful, and charming entrepreneur like you is too good a catch to languish in the oblivion of bachelorhood for long. Especially one as easy on the eyes as you are, isn’t that right, ladies?” Her gaze moved from Diana’s to Minerva’s before settling on Venus’s. “Galahad is such a handsome devil, isn’t he?”
“He’s certainly a devil,” muttered Venus under her breath as she stirred her soup.
“I see all the ladies gazing after him whenever he is near,” Olivia continued undaunted. “And I see him eyeingcertainyoung ladies, too, when he thinks none of us are watching.” She stared pointedly this time. “So I know there is at least one out there who has taken his fancy. How do you plead to that, Sir Galahad?”
“Gird your loins, Gal, my meddlesome wife has that matchmaking glint in her eyes again and it seems you’re next on her list.” Jeremiah nudged him and everyone tittered.
Everyone except him and Venus.
“He should be thrilled to be on that exclusive list, for am I not anexcellent matchmaker?” Olivia asked this of the table while not expecting any response beyond unanimous agreement. “Did I not realize well in advance of everyone else here present that Minerva was perfect for Hugh, and that Giles was desperately in love with Diana?”
“I take issue with that,” said Giles as he reached for his wife’s hand. “This harridan fell hopelessly in love with me at first sight. And frankly who could blame her?”
“Everyone knows that was the other way around, idiot.” Diana pretended to be peeved. “Like they know I only married you out of pity.”
“You were not yet here to see it, Galahad, but it took me almost a year of throwing them together togetthem together.” Olivia’s smile was smug. “But look at how happy the pair of them are now, so it was worth all my effort.” That smile instantly became calculating. “You could do worse than having me assist you in securing your future bride, Galahad. You, too, Vee. I’d find exceptional mates for the both of you because I have theeye.” She winked it to prove it. “I’ve always been able to detect a promising frisson at fifty paces.” It was when she toasted them both with her glass that Gal realized Olivia had worked out there was more currently going on between him and Venus than their usual mutual dislike. “Say the word and my services are yours.”
“Don’t say it, and they will also be yours,” mumbled Jeremiah unsubtly. “Once she’s picked out her next victims, there’s no escaping herhelp.”
“Well, I certainly do not require your services, thank you.” Venus smiled at their tormentor. “I have Marmaduke.”
While Gal tried not to growl into his soup, Olivia shook her head, sighing. “There are suitors andsuitors, Vee, and I shall not rest until I find the best one for you. Lord Dorchester isn’t it.”
Still blushing, Venus bristled, but did her best to cover it with nonchalant bravado. “That explains why my guest’s invitation was purposefully forgotten, I suppose. Because you disapprove of him. Most likely because you had no hand in choosing him and I found Marmaduke all by myself.” She smiled at Olivia, all innocence, when he knew she was purposefully rubbing his nose in it.
